


Ship of Dreams

by AgentAyu, TheDreamer2ARealist



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Titanic Fusion, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-16 08:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16082288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentAyu/pseuds/AgentAyu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDreamer2ARealist/pseuds/TheDreamer2ARealist
Summary: Tilly is a young upper-class woman suffocating under the thumb of her controlling mother. Margot is the free-spirited artist who opens Tilly's eyes and steals her heart. When the ship collides with an iceberg in the frigid North Atlantic, the young lovers’ journey is transformed into a breathtaking race for survival.





	Ship of Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> The obligatory fandom Titanic AU that no one asked for, but probably still yearned to read. You’re welcome and we’re sorry.

**_April 10, 1912 - Southampton, England - 11:30AM_ **

There was a buzz of excitement in the air as a sea of people lined up on the pier either awaiting to board or waving goodbye to their loved ones. Porters were along the pier shouting over the crowd to get the attention of the third-class passengers to guide them through the health inspection stations. Other porters were guiding vehicles around the crowd to have last minute cargo delivered to the ship from their passengers.

Tilly Gardener had never seen so many people in her life in one place. This made the socialite gatherings at her mother’s estate seem minuscule in comparison. She was amazed at the various types of people who were boarding the ship. From a family of six in steerage to a couple in either first or second class walking up their respective gangplanks. A few dogs were spotted by her as well. As she looked on to the crowd while the car moved forward slowly, she had noticed a lot of children who seemed excited to travel on the Titanic.

She was in awe long enough to marvel at seeing an actual ship in person for the first time. Otherwise, she didn’t understand the fuss her mother and her future mother-in-law made in acquiring tickets for this ship. The vehicle had come to a stop and their valet for the car opened the door to help her and her fiancée out of the car.

The blonde’s eyes wandered up to the ship unimpressed as she exited the car. “So this is Titanic? I don’t see what all the fuss is about. She seems like any other ship.”

She felt a hand on the small of her back as her fiancée stepped up beside her. “Maybe not from the outside, but on the inside she is said to be the most luxurious ship ever. She’s also the largest one in the world.” Drizella marveled at the ship before her.

“She is over a hundred feet longer than the Mauretania.” Victoria Tremaine interrupted. “Your daughter is far too difficult to impress, Eloise.”

Eloise Gardener laughed, a fake one Tilly noted to herself, as one of the porters kept trying to get her attention. Tilly shook her head and looked back up still unimpressed. “They say she’s unsinkable, no?”

“Of course she’s unsinkable, Tilly.” Eloise chastised her daughter. “God Himself could not sink this ship-- What?!” Eloise snapped at the Porter causing him to tremble.

Drizella guided Tilly away from their mothers and the Porter. “Nervous?”

Tilly gave her fiancée a sarcastic smile. “Of course not. I’m only leaving England to be wedded and live in America for the rest of my life and we’re traveling on a ship through open waters for nearly a week. Why would I be nervous?”

Her fiancée took a deep breath trying to keep her emotions in check and weakly smiled at the blonde. Tilly knew her remark was uncalled for even if she didn’t like the situation her mother had put her in. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. Thank you for your concern.”

The brunette nodded and put on a strong front when their mothers rejoined them. Tilly looked up at Titanic from the outside one last time before heading up the gangplank to step aboard the ship. With each step she took she felt her steps become heavier, the world enclosing on her from all sides, everything felt wrong as she stepped aboard. It was as if she was chained at the ankles and was being dragged to the ocean floor to drown. If only circumstances were different for her to enjoy not only her first time on a ship, but first time traveling outside of England.

* * *

**_April 10, 1912 - Southampton, England - 11:50AM_ **

With less than ten minutes until cast off, two potential passengers were running through the crowd trying to get to the nearest gangplank that hadn’t been removed from the ships opening. A young woman dress as a man was running as if hellhounds were chasing her dragging a young man by the sleeve of his coat. “Come on, Roland! I thought you were fast!”

“I am! But it doesn’t help you’re causing me to trip with nearly every step.” Roland argued back. Margot let go of her brother’s coat and kept running with him hot on her heels. She kept looking back to make sure he was still following close behind her.

“We wouldn’t have had to run to get on if we left on time!” She shouted back while trying not to run into anyone, but still pushing enough to run towards the ship.

“It was important legal paperwork that needed to get done!” Roland huffed as he grabbed his sister before a carriage ran over her. “WHOA!” the coachman shouted to calm his horses as Margot and Roland gave him an apologetic look before continuing to run.

“There’s an opening! Hurry up and don’t say a word! Let me do all the talking!” She grabbed his arm again to make him run faster with her. “Whoa! Wait! Wait! Hey, wait! We’re passengers!” Margot shouted at the ship's officers on the opening halfway up the ship. “We’re passengers!”

The officers looked at both Margot and Roland as they panted. Roland handed the tickets to the officer and held his hand to his knees trying to catch his breath. “Mr. Locksley, two passengers. Second class D-Deck, correct?”

Roland just nodded listening to his sister and also still having trouble breathing. Margot answered for him. “Yes, why what’s the problem?”

“The problem isn’t with him, sir. It’s with you.” Margot was glad she had her hat on for them to mistake her for a man. “Have you been through inspection?”

Margot gave the officer and an odd look. “Why would we need to go through inspection? We don’t have lice. He’s a Second Class citizen and I’m American who works with his family traveling second class. Now, are you going to let us on?”

The officer sighed and waved for them on. “Right. Come aboard. We welcome you aboard Titanic, Mr. Locksley and your guest.”

“Thank you,” Margot replied before having to drag Roland through the hallways to get to the nearest stairs.

“Roland, we’re lucky sons of bitches in the world! You know that?” Margot started running up the stairs and paused part way only for Roland to run into her. “Well you’re the son of a bitch, I’m just a bitch.” She laughed and continued up until they got onto the main deck of the ship where many passengers were standing along the port side of the ship.

Margot dragged her brother to the railing with her as she began waving and shouting back to the crowd. “Goodbye!”

Her brother looked at her confused. “You know somebody?”

She turned to her brother. “Of course not. That’s not the point. Now come on and join me in saying goodbye. It’ll be awhile before you’re back in England.” Margot turned back to the crowd to shout and wave.

The dark brunette rolled his eyes and joined in. “Goodbye! I’ll miss you!”

They watched as the mooring lines to Titanic were cast off and the tugboats began towing Titanic away from the dock. “Well, that’s about it. Let’s go to the other side so we can have a better look of the ship being towed.”

The siblings left the crowd from port side to the nearly empty starboard side. “Wow… I can’t believe I’m on a ship, Ro- Margot.”

Margot shook her head at her brother’s near slip up. “Well, I hope you get used to traveling on ships. Because it would be nice for you to visit us on occasion in the future. Of course, we’d return the favor to travel and visit you as well.” She leaned against the railing. “And who knows maybe someday humans will have the ability to fly from one continent to another.”

“Would that even be possible?” Roland asked leaning against the railing as well.

The lighter brunette shrugged. “It’s already starting to happen. Two brothers down in North Carolina had a successful run of an engine powered plane almost ten years ago. Who knows maybe in the next couple of years there will be short flights filled with passengers traveling throughout parts of America before someone tries to do a transatlantic flight. Imagine being able to fly, Roland.”

“I really don’t want to imagine. I’m already feeling nauseous being on a ship for the first time and we’re going to be in open waters for how many days?”

“Five to six days of open water.”

They straightened up immediately when they heard a series of loud snaps echo through the docks of Southampton. “Sis… is that other ship moving towards us?”

Margot squinted to look closer towards the ship near them and saw that her mooring lines were shortened and dangling off her side. “Oh, shit. That other ship’s mooring lines snapped.”

A rumbling sound coursed through the Titanic. Margot and Roland leaned onto the railing and saw the starboard anchor being lowered until it was dangling just above the water line. “Excuse me, sirs! I’m going to have to ask you to clear the deck and go to your cabins. Thank you.” One of the stewards addressed them.

The siblings looked at each other and complied. Neither one saying anything until they found the cabin and were situated. “Margot, I’m not sure about this anymore. We hadn’t even left port and there was nearly a collision.”

“It’s too late now. But if you really don’t want to do this, we’ll try to plead our case to get off when they pick up the passengers from Cherbourg. No judgment.” Margot said as she rubbed Roland’s back for comfort.

Roland shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m just being extra paranoid since I’ve never been on a ship and that’s the first thing I see when I expect smooth sailing.”

“If this is the worst that happens on the voyage, we’re good to go. Besides you’re probably going to want to get familiarized with that chamber pot in the corner.” Margot nodded her head in the direction of the chamber pot.

“Why?” He eyed his sister skeptically.

“You’re more than likely going to get seasick since you’ve never been on a ship. But I bought some peppermint candies. I just need them to find them in my bag.”

Roland laid down on the couch in their cabin room. “Hurry, I think I’m starting to feel it already.”

* * *

Drizella looked around their private promenade escorted by a steward, as she looked out the deck’s closed windows she noticed they had stopped. “What happened? I thought we were leaving port.” She asked the steward.

“I’m not sure myself, ma’am. I’ll go find out for you. Excuse me.” He gave a slight bow and walked away.

She poured herself a glass of champagne and walked back into their parlor suite. Drizella leaned against the door watching her fiancée pull out some paintings they had purchased before leaving England. A gesture of goodwill in the form of engagement gifts from the Tremaines to the Gardeners for the estate Drizella and Tilly would be living in in Boston. Victoria Tremaine stood between everyone and the doors to the bedrooms directing the stewards where to place their luggage. Trudy, Tilly’s maid, was helping her mistress sort through the paintings from the crates as the blonde was looking for several specific paintings to have spread around the suite.

“I hope you enjoy those paintings, dear. I think they were a waste of money.” Drizella commented as she looked over Tilly’s shoulder at the painting the blonde was holding up.

“The difference between Drizella’s taste in art and mine is that I have some.” She gave her fiancée a smug smile before placing the painting she held on the couch for better lighting to look at it. “They’re fascinating. Like being inside of a dream or something. There’s truth but no logic.”

Drizella rolled her eyes. She held some appreciation for art, but not for the movements that were currently happening. She longed for the paintings from France and the Art Nouveau movement to make a quick revival from its end a few years back. Drizella had no care for what was being produced currently and being called ‘art’.

“What’s the artist’s name?” Trudy asked.

Tilly had picked up the painting of a ballerina and looked back at the painting on the couch. “Something Picasso.”

The brunette huffed out a laugh. “Something Picasso. He won’t amount to a thing. He won’t, trust me.” She rebuffed as she sat down at the table. The blonde ignored her fiancée and walked into her bedroom carrying the ballerina painting with her and Trudy following closely behind her mistress. Drizella looked over at her mother. “At least they were cheap.”

“Put it in the wardrobe.” Victoria directed the steward before grabbing the champagne glass from Drizella’s hand. “And enough of that. We don’t need you drunk before dinner.”

“It was only one glass, Mother. It’s not like I’m a drunk.”

“No, but it’s a matter of impression. You are a lady of a high-class family who has an image to uphold for the Tremaine name.”

Drizella huffed. “Funny you should say that, Mother. You say I need to uphold the family name and yet you have me in an arranged marriage to the daughter of Eloise Gardener.” Drizella brought her voice down to a whisper. “Who is supposedly a former leader of a cult of witches. How is that towards our family name?”

“Those are rumors.” Victoria brushed off.

“There’s always a little truth to rumors, Mother.” Drizella countered.

“Drizella, enough! Regardless of rumors it is better to be allies than enemies with Eloise Gardener. She has connections that help strengthen our own.”

“Where is my fiancée's esteemed mother anyways?” Drizella asked as she grabbed her champagne glass back.

Victoria glared at her daughter as she straightened her back stiffly. “Eloise is making arrangements for us to have dinner with the Captain and his Chief Officer.”

Drizella kept herself from rolling her eyes. “Brilliant.” She muttered as she walked away towards Tilly’s bedroom.

When she entered, the Degas painting was already propped up against the vanity mirror and Tilly’s maid was helping remove some of the jewelry Tilly was wearing. “... and to think. Tonight, when I crawl in the sheets. I’ll be the first!”

“Enjoy it while you can, Trudy. Even though we’re first class we’re not always as fortunate to be part of a ship’s maiden voyage.” Drizella replied announcing her presence.

“Miss Tremaine.” Trudy greeted. Drizella nodded her head towards the door for Trudy to leave her and Tilly alone. “Excuse me, Miss.” Trudy quickly curtsied and left the room to the newly engaged couple.

Once Trudy was through the door Drizella shut and locked it. “What do you think you’re doing? This is my bedroom. Get out!” Tilly snapped.

“Don’t think I want to be part of this marriage anymore than you do, Tilly,” Drizella said as she sat down on the ottoman at Tilly’s vanity. “I’m merely trying to escape from my mother’s insistent nagging.”

Tilly huffed out a chuckle, acknowledging the sentiment. “Why do I suspect my mother might be involved?”

“Probably because I just received word from my mother we are very likely going to be dining with the ship’s Captain and his Chief Officer tonight.”

“Brilliant,” Tilly muttered under her breathe. “First night and she’s already wanting to make a statement of being the first family to dine with the Captain. Maybe even show boat that we’re engaged for all of First Class to know.”

“Mmm,” Drizella replied as she drank some of her champagne. “Maybe you’d like a drink to help take the edge off as well. Since we’re going to be trapped on this ship with our mothers for the next seven days.”

Without answering, Tilly took Drizella’s champagne glass and drank the rest of its contents. She handed the glass back to Drizella as she stared at the Degas painting. Imagining herself as the ballerina and escaping the thought of being held a prisoner in her own life. Tilly slightly jumped when Drizella wrapped her arms around her waist.

“While I may not want this marriage to happen no more than you do, I’m willing to play the part. It’s the life we were born into and it’s definitely not fair, but I promise you this, Tilly. I’m on your side and I will be forever faithful to you. All I ask is the return of faith in me.” Drizella quickly pecked Tilly’s cheek.

Tilly gave a small nod before turning her head to return a kiss on Drizella’s cheek. Not because she felt the need to kiss her fiancée, but because it felt like she needed to in the role she was playing. The role of the obedient daughter engaged to the daughter of another influential family. Drizella gave Tilly a sad smile knowing the kiss was void of any emotion and gave her fiancée a light squeeze trying to find her own comfort in their situation. Two women trapped in a potentially loveless marriage.

* * *

 **_April 10, 1912 - Off the Coast of_ ** **_Cherbourg, France - 6:45PM_ **

Roland groaned as he pressed the palm of his hands against his closed eyes. His seasickness hit him at full force a few hours after the ship was finally able to leave port after the near collision in Southampton. Margot had been handing him peppermint candies to suck on whenever he started to feel nauseous again.

“Make it stop!” He whined.

Margot was lying on the floor next to him, suffering from her own mild case of seasickness. “It’ll pass. We’re waiting for dinner and then you can sleep most of it off.”

He groaned and rolled onto his stomach burying his head under his pillow. “I don’t think my stomach can handle food.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and soup will be available for dinner. Or I hope they’ll be willing to make something small for your stomach. Who knows how many other passengers are feeling sick, but I will make sure you eat something.”

“You are so infuriatingly bossy.”

“I’m your older sister. It’s my job to be infuriatingly bossy. Even if I was your younger sister in some other reality it would still be my job to be infuriatingly bossy. Why? Purely on the fact that I’m your sister and your my brother.” Margot countered.

Silence fell upon the room except for the sound of their breathing. There was also the occasional sound of peppermint candy being moved around their mouths hitting their teeth.

“Hey, Sis?”

“Yeah?”

“Something had been bugging me for a while,” Roland said as he uncovered his face from under his pillow to look at her. “Something that I struggled with growing up, but grew to accept only for it to come up again when you showed up at the estate a few months ago.”

“What is it?”

“I know Dad loved me and my mum, but after my mum died he grew distant. There were so many times growing up I saw him staring at the horses at our estate or at the ranch we worked at with a look of longing in his eyes. He later told me that while he loved mum, she wasn’t his true love. There was only so much of his heart he was able to give her while his heart belonged wholeheartedly to another woman he loved prior to ever meeting mum. I knew of you practically my whole life. He told me how his love who left him was pregnant with his child when they were separated. That’s why I was so distant from you when you first showed up. He knew nothing about you. He wasn’t there for you when you were growing up. I was there with him. I was the child he raised, yet I always felt I was in your shadow. Not knowing if I was in the shadow of a brother or a sister. Dad was convinced he was missing out on his daughter’s life. Daughter. That hurt thinking he never wanted a son as the child he didn’t know.”

“Rol-”

“Let me finish, please. I need to get this off my chest since you were insistent I come and meet your mother, your family.” He took a deep breath to recollect his thoughts. “Of course that wasn’t true as I learned. I had to put myself in his shoes. Dad’s heart was so big that he could love so many. He still loved his lost lover, your mother. You weren’t even born and he loved you so much that even though he didn’t know you he loved you just as much as he loved me. I needed you to hear that because my question to you is, how could your mother leave him like that? Leave him knowing he had fathered a child with the woman he loved? Granted if none of that happened I wouldn’t have been born, but I can’t imagine how painful that was for him and I don’t want to assume your mother is heartless enough to do something like that.”

Margot didn’t say a word. Roland grew nervous the longer the silence built in the room. He was worried he had overstepped too soon in what was a growing relationship between them as siblings. The tension eased when he heard his sister let out a shaky breath. He saw her wiping tears from her eyes.

“I’m not mad at you, Roland. Let’s get that out of the way. You were being truthful with your feelings and I thank you for that. While I never knew of you or your mom, you just asked me the same questions I asked my mom whenever I was angry at her. Whenever I felt cheated out of never knowing Dad. You’re right, from the short time I got to spend with him, Dad has a big heart. A big, caring, and noble heart. One that took a very nasty fight with my mom after my grandmother passed away to finally understand.” Margot wiped more tears away. “Something you need to understand is that you were born into a Second Class family, I don’t think you realize how lucky you are. Most people believe that First Class is where it is made because of the money, the influential power, the big estates, the businesses, whatever you can think of that’s what life is about. Well, it’s not. First Class society is miserable, especially for a woman who didn’t want to abide by the rules that were set for us. That wasn’t living.

“My grandmother, Cora, god how to explain my grandmother… First Class like I said is about power. The strength of a family’s influence is what makes them either admired or despised. My grandmother wasn’t born into a First Class family with a lot of power. Her family ran a small flour mills business. There is a lot of things I’m omitting from the story because it’d make things too complicated to answer your questions, but I will tell them to you one day. Long story short she ended up marrying my grandfather, Henry, whose family ran a well respected horse ranch that had been around for generations. Horses formerly bred for war, later for racing. From my own personal experience living with her and talking to my cousin, my mom, and my aunt… my grandmother was… very complicated to live with. Some would say she was heartless. I think her ‘heartless’ personality came from having to work hard to get to where she did. My grandfather past away long before I was ever born and my grandmother became head of the family. She ruled with an iron fist when it came to the business and she was not going to take any of the slandering and gossip that the First Class society would say about our family.”

“Okay… but what does any of that have to do with why your mum left Dad? And no offense, why would she keep a child of the man she left if it seems like she didn’t love him anymore?” Roland asked.

“Because she did love him, Roland. My mom’s biggest regret was not fighting hard enough for him, but she couldn’t bring herself to fight for him when she knew what would have happened to him. Dad is of a Second Class family, First Class would have ruined him. My grandmother would have destroyed who he was to make him conform to the upper-class lifestyle. My mom left Dad to protect him. To protect his heart that made her love him. Growing up in that world and having met him. Having met you… it would have killed him. Killed the man who you had grown to know being raised by him. First Class is ruthless. It doesn’t take much for a family to lose everything. That’s why while I love my grandmother, I still hate her because she’s the reason my mom left Dad.”

“Your grandmother sounds like an evil witch.”

Margot chuckled. “Probably was. Is it so wrong that while I hate her, I still love her? She never treated my cousin and I poorly. She was strict, but while she didn’t show us affection like our mothers did, she had her way of showing she cared for her family.”

“I feel like something else had to have happened to her besides being from on the poorer end of the First Class world and married into a more influential family.” Roland speculated.

“Oh, yes. That’s part of the story I kept out because of how complicated it can get. My family’s history is rather complex. There is a reason my family is the most admired or most despised family in the entire New England and Mid-Atlantic areas. There are other families as well, but we try to keep as much of a low profile as possible. That was the best lesson to have learned from my grandmother. We do what we do best to make the populace shut their traps. That’s how we’ve thrived when she passed away. Everyone assumed our family’s power would collapse when my grandmother died, but it didn’t.”

“How’d your family manage to do that?”

“We basically said ‘fuck it’. The rules of First Class were too suffocating, so while my cousin and I were still raised to know the proper etiquettes and mannerism we were going to live each day to its fullest. No longer having our family suffer from a life of regrets and lost love. Grandmother’s method for the family business was needed during the time she was head of the family, I’ll gladly admit to that, but nowadays… our business is doing amazing because we’re showing our business partners that we care and are passionate about the business. Yes, we get burnt sometimes by people we trusted, but it’s a learning experience and it taught us who we could trust and who we couldn’t.”

Margot spaced out to her childhood memories while her grandmother was still alive and after she passed away. As insufferable as it was at times, she wouldn’t change it. Everything that had been done is what lead to how her family lived today. She and her cousin were both given a chance to live the way they wanted and love whomever they wanted. As long as they lived honorably and never tried to wrong anyone, they were as free as they could be while being from a world with strict rules. The brunette sat up and shook her head.

“Now then, if that’s everything, what do you say to dinner?” The response she received was a pillow to the face, thrown by her brother.

* * *

Rogers cursed under his breath as he put on his dinner dress jacket. He was running late since he had to hand sew on a button that fell off. While he didn’t know the families he and his captain were going to dine with, he had worked under Captain Weaver for nearly his whole career and did not want to disappoint his mentor and friend. He wasn’t originally supposed to be attending this dinner, but the Chief Officer was currently asleep preparing for his watch later in the evening. He took a deep breath and briskly made his way to the Grand Staircase to meet with his captain.

As he approached his superior officer, he saw Weaver close his pocket watch and place it into the pocket of his dinner dress jacket. “You’re late, First Officer Jones.”

“Apologies, Sir. I had a wardrobe malfunction that needed to be corrected before my appearance.” Rogers stood at a modified attention as Weaver inspected his uniform.

Weaver adjusted his medals slightly so they were leveled. “There much better. It’s as I told you many years ago and I know you know full well that when you’re early, you’re on time; when you’re on time, you’re late. Don’t let it happen again should you be invited to another dinner during this voyage.”

“Yes, Sir. If I may ask, Sir, who will we be dining with tonight?”

Both walked side by side with Rogers on Weaver’s right as the descended the Grand Staircase. “We’ll be dining with the Tremaines and the Gardeners. Miss Gardener was rather insistent we dine with them tonight despite new passengers coming aboard as we speak from Cherbourg.”

“Gardener?” Rogers agaped.

There was only one Gardener family he knew in First Class from all his travels. Upon hearing ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Mrs.’ Rogers was positive it was who he thought it was. He took a deep breath as mixed feelings circled around the pit of his stomach from nervousness to excitement. It had been nearly three decades since he had last seen Eloise, but what had him puzzled is that she was still a ‘Miss’. Unmarried after all this time when she had left him and had her parents tell him that she had no longer wanted to see him and had used their influence to have him sent out to sea earlier than his intended date. A blessing in disguise in hindsight. He was originally supposed to be on the SS Oregon, which had met her untimely demise three months after he came aboard the SS Republic.

As they entered the Reception Room, Weaver walked a little further ahead to a small group of four women standing off to the side awaiting their arrival. Rogers kept a few paces back while his captain had greeted the party they would be dining with.

“I must apologize, that my Chief Officer is unable to attend dinner. He had retired for the evening to stand his watch on the bridge later tonight. I hope you don’t mind I brought along my First Officer in his place.” Weaver gestured towards Rogers to step forward for his introduction. “First Officer Jones, may I introduce you to Lady Victoria Tremaine and Miss Eloise Gardener.”

“Hello, Eloise.” Rogers smiled seeing the woman he had considered his lost love.

Weaver cleared his throat at his officer’s rudeness on not addressing their guest properly. “It’s Miss Gardener, Mr. Jones.”

“It is quite alright, Captain. Rogers and I were once in a courtship, however, that was many years ago.” Eloise held a tight smile that Rogers knew was her putting on a polite front. He could immediately sense the tension building between them and not in a good way. Things grew a little awkward between them when Eloise didn’t offer her hand for him to kiss. As he looked Eloise over he noticed that she was not the bright-eyed and wanderlust girl he once knew.

Not wanting to dwell on it further, for now, he turned his attention to Victoria. “Lady Tremaine, an honor to make your acquaintance.” He quickly kissed her hand.

“Pleasure,” Victoria replied. She gestured towards Drizella. “And this is my daughter, Drizella.”

“Miss Tremaine, a pleasure.” Rogers took her hand and kissed it.

“Pleasure is all mine, Mr. Jones. This is my fiancée, Tilly.” Drizella introduced.

His breath caught in his throat as fully laid his eyes upon Eloise’s daughter for the first time. If he didn’t know better he would have thought he was staring back at the ghost of his mother; the same vibrant blonde hair and deep blue eyes, like the ocean. Remembering where he was currently at he quickly kissed Tilly’s hand and let go without giving her a second glance. While it was rude to ask a lady her age, he suspected that the young woman in front of him had to be in her mid-twenties. Which would mean she was… he subtly dug his fingertips into the palm of his hand to keep himself from finishing that thought.

“Ladies, please allow us to escort you to our table.” Weaver held his arms out for Eloise and Victoria to hold while the walked through the dining saloon.

Rogers could see Eloise clench her jaw as she looked back at him and the two young women he would be escorting.

“Mr. Jones, is everything alright?” Tilly asked looking at him concerned.

He shook his head to snap out of his thoughts. “Apologies Miss Gardener. Would you believe me if I told you I was nervous? Even though I’m normally Captain Weaver’s Chief Officer, I still do not normally find myself attending dinners with our esteemed guests.” Rogers held his arms for both Tilly and Drizella to take.

“If I may ask, if it’s not rude, you said you’re normally Captain Weaver’s Chief Officer. What happened to make you his First Officer on this voyage?” Tilly inquired as they passed other First Class members.

“Word came from White Star Line that they wanted someone with more experience to be second in command. Captain objected since he had personally selected his officers, but the White Star Line makes the final decisions.” Rogers nodded to a few of their guests who had greeted them. “At the end of the day, I’m just glad they still allowed me to be one of his officers since I had worked under him nearly my whole career.”

“Is that not a normal occurrence, Mr. Jones?” Drizella asked.

“All depends on who you network and make connections with, Miss Tremaine.” Rogers nodded to some of the First Class passengers who had greeted Weaver and himself as they passed. “In regards to networking as an officer, it is not all that different from how one of an upper-class would network. Do something memorable for a higher ranking officer and if they have enough influence could have you stay with them or pass you onto someone else’s ship.”

“Then you must have done something amazing if you had been with Captain Weaver nearly your whole career.” Tilly awed.

“Aye, but it’s only because he was the one who saved me when I was in my dire time of need.” He crossed his arms enough to pat the two young women’s hands. “I don’t mean to startle you, but I did have my own demons to overcome long before I became your dashing First Officer aboard the Titanic. Captain Weaver helped me through them, earning my undying loyalty and I proved to him I was worthy of being an officer he could count on on any voyage we sailed.”

There was no doubt on everyone’s mind at the table that this dinner was filled with unpleasant tension. Eloise was adamant that Tilly and herself were to sit next to Weaver while Victoria and Drizella sat next to Rogers. While Rogers tried conversing with both Drizella and Tilly, either Victoria or Eloise would interrupt and take control of the conversation. Rogers would occasionally look over at Tilly who appeared a little green to him. He had seen her cover her mouth multiple times in a short span and having trouble breathing.

The blonde leaned over to her fiancée and whispered into her ear that she wasn’t feeling well. Drizella nodded giving the blonde a sympathized look. As Tilly started to stand Eloise objected.

“Tilly, you must sit. Our main course hasn’t even arrived.”

She looked at everyone at the table. “My apologies, I’m not feeling well at the moment. It’s a little hard to breathe and everything is starting to spin.”

“Nonsense, dear. You’ll be fine once we get some food in you. Caviar should be served soon, yes?” Eloise gave Tilly a look implying she wanted her daughter to sit back down.

“I believe young Miss Gardener is experiencing a case of seasickness.” Weaver interjected. “Is this your first time traveling on a ship, dearie?”

Tilly nodded. Not trusting herself to be able to speak as a wave of nausea came over her stomach. She sat back down and began wrangling her hands together. Eloise held a napkin over her face to block it from view of the captain as she harshly whispered towards her daughter, “Stop being over dramatic. You know how important this dinner is for us. You’re giving a very bad impression to the captain.”

Both Weaver and Rogers looked at each other silently communicating with one another. Rogers hailed one of the stewards for the table and asked them to bring a strip of ginger from the kitchen. He watched as Tilly kept taking deep breaths and slowly drinking her water to calm her nausea.

“Mr. Jones, would you please do the honor of escorting young Miss Gardener outside so she could get some fresh air. I’ll send a steward to retrieve you two when the main course arrives.” Weaver ordered over any protest from Eloise. “Miss Gardener, I assure you young Miss Gardener is in good care with my officer. As captain it does sadden me if even one of my passengers is feeling unwell, being at sea for most of my life I’m positive some fresh air will help her.”

Rogers nodded. “Yes, sir.” He got up to help Tilly out of her seat and escort her. “Well, young Miss Gardener we can either go to the covered promenade or to the Boat Deck. Which would you prefer?”

“The Boat Deck please.”

The two were silent the entire time on the elevator until they reached the First Class area of the Boat Deck. Tilly sat on the bench and looked out into the darkness. Rogers stood next to the bench in a relaxed stance whenever he was to be in formation.

“It’s so quiet.”

“Aye. That’s not always a bad thing, Miss.”

Tilly smiled. “No, I guess not. Too much chatter would drive anyone crazy wouldn’t it?” Rogers held back a laugh not wanting to be rude. He watched from the corner of his eye as Tilly looked up to the stars. “I’ve also never seen so many stars before. My, I’ve missed out on so many wonders having never left London once until today.”

“Forgive me if I’m over stepping, but I was an acquaintance of your mother and her parents in the past, didn’t you ever get a chance to go to their country home?” Rogers asked.

The blonde shrugged. “I never got to go because it burnt down sometime after I was born. My grandparents died in the fire.”

Rogers took a deep breath slightly saddened by the news. While he and the Gardeners didn’t have an ideal relationship when he had been trying to court Eloise, he had still hoped to earn Mr. Gardener’s respect should he have ever become his son-in-law. He silently quickly said a prayer and gave his respects to the elder Gardeners. “My condolences for your loss even if it’s long overdue.”

“Thank you, but it’s alright. You didn’t know, Mr. Jones.” She stood up still looking up at the stars and turned slowly until she spotted the constellations she was looking for. “I remember reading that the North Star is part of one of the dippers. I can’t remember if it was Ursa Major or Ursa Minor.”

“Aye.” Rogers stood next to Tilly and pointed to the sky. “If you look at the tip of Ursa Minor, that is the North Star. If ever lost she will guide you in the right direction, as long as you’re in the Northern Hemisphere that is. When in doubt find Ursa Major and you should be able to find Ursa Minor close by.” He winked at Tilly.

Tilly shivered as a cold breeze past them. Immediately Rogers took off his jacket and draped it over  Tilly’s shoulders. She gave him a small smile in appreciation at the gesture. “It must be tough for the little bear to do anything with its mother always present.”

“Maybe it’s a Papa Bear looking after it’s cub.” Rogers offered.

She shrugged again. “Maybe. Not like it matters, besides the North Star, no one really cares to look for Ursa Minor. They just use what they need from Ursa Minor and only care to look at Ursa Major since that’s the first one everyone finds who doesn’t have even the slightest interest in astronomy.”

Rogers clenched his jaw to keep himself from speaking his mind too freely. “While that may be true, Miss. The common folk might not appreciate Ursa Minor, but those who truly know the cub’s worth would always know who shines the brightest in the darkest of nights.”

The young aristocrat smiled at the officer sensing he was understanding what she was implying while talking about the two Ursas. They probably would have stayed outside talking if the steward hadn’t arrived to announce that the main course was about to be served. The steward also quietly informed Rogers that he was unable to acquire ginger and that the kitchen wasn’t going to serve tea preventing them from providing either ginger or peppermint tea to Tilly.

When they arrived back at the table, Tilly immediately noticed Drizella subtly trying to alleviate what she assumed was a headache by pressing two fingers close to her temple. “What did we miss?” Tilly whispered to Drizella.

She watched as her fiancée pressed her fingers into her temple a little harder before replying. “I wished your condition would have kept you from the rest of dinner. Then at least one of us wouldn’t have a migraine by the end of the night. Your mother has only been chatting up our engagement and how hard it was to raise you as a single mother. As you can see the captain could really care less, but is being the perfect gentleman.”

“Mr. Jones!” Tilly winced hearing how overly sweet her mother’s voice was to the officer. “I was just telling your captain how excited Lady Tremaine and I are for our daughters’ engagement and that it would be the talk of all of Boston this coming summer.”

“Yes, Miss Tremaine had informed me during our introductions earlier.” Rogers looked over to Tilly and Drizella. Tilly slightly scrunched her face when she thought she heard a hint of hurt in the officer’s voice at the news. “Congratulations.”

The two young women exchanged their thanks and began praying for this dinner to end as quickly as possible. Their prayers went unanswered. Tilly already began feeling her headache returning, but this time it wasn’t because of seasickness. It was the same reason as Drizella, their mothers need to gloat and make sure everyone knew of their current status. It was going to be the same thing every night until they docked in New York. The blonde and brunette looked at each other in mutual sympathy when Eloise began talking about Tilly’s father again.

“It really was such a tragic and short lived marriage with Tilly’s father. We were married and less than two months he was brisked away out to sea. All was fine since it was still a good while before Tilly was born, but then the SS Oregon sank leaving me without a husband and five months with child.”

“I don’t see how it was so hard on you to raise me when you were hardly present. I was primarily raised by nannies and maids.” Tilly replied.

It wasn’t until she felt Drizella squeezing her arm did she look up and realize she had just spoken her thoughts out loud. Tilly cleared her throat and drank from her glass of water to keep herself from seeing her mother’s glare. Rogers meanwhile stared at Tilly as he worked through a timeline in his mind coming to the same conclusion he had earlier when he met Eloise Gardener’s daughter.

Victoria gave a nervous chuckle trying to break the tension around the table as the stewards began placing their meal in front of them. She looked around the dining saloon, waiting for the stewards to leave and saw the perfect scapegoat to change the subject. “My future daughter-in-law has still yet to realize that is just how children were raised while there was only one parent. It was the proper way unlike what the Mills did for the two bastard children that came from that family.”

Tilly and Drizella looked at each other confused on why Victoria had brought up the Mills family all of a sudden. While they were silently in their own conversation, Victoria nudged Eloise to look in the direction where her sights were on a couple at another table in the saloon. Eloise nodded in acknowledgment what she was seeing. Meanwhile, Weaver and Rogers exchanged a glance realizing this dinner was beyond its usual pleasantries, but they had a duty to act as gentlemen in front of their guests as the captain and high ranking officer of the ship.

“I’m honestly surprised the Mills have lasted as long as they have since Cora’s passing. It’s more shocking that their reputation hasn’t gone to complete shambles with not just one, but two bastards coming out of that family. I had thought Cora ruled that family with more iron fist, but apparently, I was wrong since both of her daughters couldn’t keep their legs closed.” Victoria criticized.

Eloise smiled as she pipped in her own opinions as well. “Oh, I know exactly what you mean, dear. Especially when it was revealed that Regina, the younger Mills daughter, who bore a child at eighteen and the father was supposedly one of the stable boys of their ranch. She even had the gall to name her son after her father who was a far more respectable man before he met Cora.”

“Then there is the talk that Zelena is Cora’s bastard before she married Henry. Apple doesn’t seem to fall too far from the tree. Zelena used to run their ranch in England until she was suddenly in America and apparently had traveled in a delicate condition. The father is supposedly a man from of the Second Class variety and worked with the Mills. Or maybe she did favors with clients for them to not crumble under the scandals surrounding that whole family.” Victoria replied.

Tilly closed her eyes and picked at her gloves as she felt bad for the Mills family even if she had little knowledge about them. She knew they ran a horse ranch in England and their horses were consistently praised by the men that were at the various parties hosted at the Gardener estate. Otherwise, she knew nothing about them. No family should be talked down upon because of things that were intimate and private family matters especially with what Victoria was implicating with Zelena Mills and her child.

“Oh Mother, shut up!” Drizella snapped.

“I beg your pardon? Drizella, that was rather rude. You will not talk to your mother with that tone.” Victoria warned. “The Mills are nothing but trouble with no structure or guidance with Regina and Zelena running the family.”

“Maybe you and majority of the other First Class socialites are jealous that the Mills have found success in their own way outside of the rules that we seem to follow. They are not bad people. They’re kind, loyal, and humble. They’re always willing to lend a helping hand to those who ask even if sometimes it hurts them since people take advantage of them.” Drizella defended. “The Tremaines used to be good friends with them until-”

“Until what exactly, Drizella? It wasn’t the Tremaines as much as it was your step-mother who were friends with the wretched family.” Victoria quickly recomposed herself and put on a fake smile. Tilly and Drizella both had to fight really hard to keep their eyes from rolling. “Honestly there is something rather troubling with that family especially the women. Zelena’s daughter, that girl is an absolute menace. No proper manners, always let loose to run around, an absolute wild child because she didn’t have any nannies or maids to truly look after her.”

Drizella chuckled. “Why don’t you really tell them why you feel that way about her, Mother? You’re still bitter than Robin out shined you in archery at the country club in upstate New York while you were trying to impress the other ladies.” She looked over at her fiancée and at their guests who had been rudely ignored this entire time. “Robin and I were ten by the way and we were playing Robin Hood and I was Robin’s Maid Marian.”

Victoria looked as if she had swallowed the worst tasting medicine imaginable. “She was acting like a wild child. Makes sense that her mother couldn’t keep her bastard in line. That girl would never have the ability to become a proper lady with that family. I’m glad I got you away from her when I did.”

“At least she was happier and given a chance to be a kid,” Drizella mumbled loud enough only for Tilly to hear.

“And the nerve of her grandmother suggesting that I should have had Drizella engaged to her bastard granddaughter. Absolutely not. There was no way I was going to have you marry into that family and ruin the Tremaine’s good name.” Victoria exclaimed giving a smug grin as if she had saved her daughter from a going to Hell.

The brunette smiled at her mother and laced her voice with an extra tone of sweetness. “Oh, Mother, how you quickly forget that even though I’m not married to Robin we’re already related to the Mills. Remember your other daughter, Jacinda? She married Henry Mills.”

Victoria snarled. “She is not my daughter. I had only two daughters, you and Anastasia. She is the daughter of my husband’s, your father’s, late second wife.”

“Yes, meanwhile you’re father’s first and third wife.” Drizella immediately countered. “Jacinda is just as much my sister as Ana was.”

“Drizella enough!” The head of the Tremaine family raised her voice just enough to silence her daughter, but not to bring attention to them by the rest of the saloon. “She might be a Tremaine by name because Marcus adopted her, but she will never be a true Tremaine. The Tremaine blood does not run in her veins.”

But Drizella was not going to let her mother have the last words over this particular matter. Her family had been attacked and she would not let them go undefended. “And what does that make you, Mother? You are also a Tremaine in name only. I’m a Tremaine by blood unless you’re suggesting I’m not Marcus Tremaine’s daughter. Adopted or not, Jacinda is still my sister. You might be my mother, but you are not my mom.”

Weaver cleared his throat before the tension grew any further. “Ladies, I must apologize that I am unable to stay for the dessert course of our meal.” Both Weaver and Rogers were the only ones who had eaten their main course while the uncomfortable argument unfolded in front of them. “As it is the first night and we have new passengers on the ship that I have yet to greet personally. Officer Jones will also be leaving since he has to check in with the other officers about their watch schedules for the remainder of the voyage. We bid all of you adieu and a lovely rest of your evening."

As Rogers and Weaver walked away from the table, the First Officer stole a couple of glances back to look at Tilly. They caught each other’s eyes once before both looked away. “That was… an interesting dinner, sir.”

“Just remember to keep a smile on and be a gentleman. Which means we do not talk bad about any guests while outside the confines of our quarters.” Weaver advised. “Now I’m going to greet our new guests. As for you, double check the watch bill and make sure everyone is aware of their watches.”

“Aye, sir.” Rogers acknowledged.

Meanwhile back at the table, Drizella couldn’t handle sitting with her mother anymore. “I’m sorry to say, Mother, I’ve fallen a little ill just now. Probably my own case of seasickness. Excuse me as I retire for the evening.” She got up and leaned slightly on the back of Tilly’s chair feigning dizziness. “Sweetie, would you please help me back to our suite? I’m sure you’re also still feeling some effects from earlier.”

Gladly taking any opportunity to leave the table, Tilly agreed and escorted her fiancée back to their suite. Both Eloise and Victoria sat at their table steaming as they watched their daughters leave. Victoria was more worried about Eloise’s reaction since it was her fault that this dinner turned into a disaster in front of the captain and his officer.

“I want to apologize-”

“It’s too late, it’s already been done.” Eloise snapped. “Your behavior just now is calling into question whether I selected the right person for our plans in America. But that’s not the only problem. We’re going to need whatever members we have aboard keep an eye on First Officer Jones. He is by no means to get anywhere near my daughter. Do you understand me? I will hold you personally responsible in making sure this gets done to make up for this debacle.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Victoria bowed her head slightly. “And what of them?” She looked up towards the couple they had been keeping an eye on.

“Leave that to me. I’ll make sure all of the personnel in First Class has something to talk about by tomorrow evening. Henry Mills on the Titanic with a woman who is not his wife I presume?” Eloise looked at Victoria for confirmation. “The Mills is already surrounded by scandals throughout the years and they still manage to be one of the most powerful families. We will need to bring them down before our families can assume power. Time to stir the pot.”

* * *

**_April 11, 1912 - Off the coast of Queenstown, Ireland_ **

The next afternoon, Margot leaned over her brother shaking his shoulder gently. “Roland.” She whispered. “Hey, Roland. Wake up.”

Roland mumbled as he cracked open one of his eyes. “No, go away, Ro- Margot. I’m still not feeling well.”

“Obviously, but it’s already after two.” Margot pulled the covers off her brother. Giving thanks to whoever was listening in heaven that her brother didn’t sleep in the nude. Even if she and Roland grew up together instead of only knowing each other for about a few months, she would not want to ever see him in his birthday suit.

“Two? In the afternoon?”

“No, in the morning. It’s still dark out.” Margot replied sarcastically while pointing towards this porthole where the sun was beaming through.

Roland gave her an annoyed glare. “You are so annoying.”

“Yeah, but I have twenty years to make up as your loving annoying older sister.” Margot began tossing clothes towards her brother. “Now, come on. Get up! We just left the coast of Ireland. From here on out until we reach New York City, it’s open waters.”

The curly haired man suddenly felt queasy all over again from just hearing they won’t see land for another five days. “How are you so chippy? You weren’t feeling too well last night either.”

Margot chuckled as she started heading out the door to give her brother some privacy. “I usually get seasick for the first couple of days. I’m still not feeling a hundred percent, but I’m a lot better than I was last night. Now hurry it up! The fresh air would do you some good.”

Ten more minutes of additional nagging from one older sibling later, Margot had Roland by the wrist as she practically dragged him above deck. She kept running and dragging him until they were practically at the bow of the ship. Margot let go and ran until she was pressed against the bow’s railings. She leaned over to look down at the ship cutting through the water.

“Roland, come here! You have got to see this!” Margot hollered over the wind. Despite her hair being in a ponytail some of her hair was still blowing into her face, but she didn’t dare wear her hat at the most forward part of the ship where it would fly off her head.

“I’m good standing right here. Thanks.” Roland replied very hesitant of getting closer to the railing now that they weren’t near land like when they pulled out of port in Southampton.

“Trust me, Roland. You want to see this.” Margot grabbed onto her brother’s arm and dragged him to the railing. “I got you. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Roland leaned over the railing and was awed at what he saw. “What are those?”

“Dolphins!” Margot shouted gleefully as she stood next to her brother. She held him at the waist to help him feel more secure as they watch the dolphins swimming as fast as they could away from the ship sailing along their path. “See it? There’s another one!” There was a pod of dolphins swimming along the waterline. “Look at that one! Roland, look at him jump!”

The siblings leaned into each other feeling at peace with the world. “This is amazing, Robbie.” Margot squeezed her brother’s side in her one armed hug.

Margot squinted her eyes. “Hey, Roland… look. Can you see it?” She pointed off into the horizon.

“What?” Roland squinted his eyes trying to figure out what his sister was pointing towards. “See what?”

“How can you not see it? It’s right there.” Margot kept pointing insisting her brother should be able to see what she was seeing.

“Ro-” Roland paused realizing he almost let his sister’s nickname slip a second time. “Margot, what are you talking about? I can’t see anything except the horizon line.”

“The Statue of Liberty! If you look hard enough you can see it from here.” Margot began to laugh. Roland groaned having fallen for another one of his sister’s corny jokes. “It’s very small of course.”

Gaining a little more courage, Roland hopped up onto the bow’s bits and held his arms out feeling the wind blow past him. While it was a rough twenty-four into his first trip on a ship, he was glad to have the opportunity to experience traveling on the open waters. “Is it wrong I feel empowered being up here?”

Margot chuckled as she leaned against the railing watching her brother enjoy himself. “Not at all. I’ve traveled on several ships and this one is definitely far more luxurious. Steerage is treated better on Titanic.”

“I just- I just feel like…” Roland raised his arms above his head and looked towards the sky. “I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!”

Roland roared a few cheers from his sudden adrenaline rush before dropping down from the bow’s bits. He was only able to take a few steps before his face turned green and he found himself leaning over the railing churning whatever was left of his dinner from the night before.

“You okay there, his Majesty?” Margot teased while rubbing Roland’s back.

“I think the ocean is still winning the fight against my stomach.”

“Come on. Let’s go grab some lunch, something light for your stomach. Then you can go lie down for a while longer.” Margot held her brother by the shoulders to help guide him to their dining saloon. “But I am going to drag your ass out of bed later to get more fresh air. I promise this too shall pass.”

* * *

“How is the young Miss this afternoon?”

Tilly looked up from her book and smiled seeing who had greeted her. “Mr. Jones! A pleasant surprise. I’m doing much better, still queasy at random times, but far better than I was last night.”

“Good, that’s good.” Rogers nodded towards the book in Tilly’s hands. “May I inquire what you’re reading?” She held the book up for him to see the cover. “Ah, reading up on the famous outlaw.”

She shrugged. “I’ve tried reading _The Wizard of Oz_ as well as _Alice in Wonderland_ , but I couldn’t find myself traveling to either of those places today. Oh, please have a seat.” Tilly gestured to the seat opened on the other side of the table.

Rogers sat down and placed a long wooden box with checkered patterns on the tabletop. “So instead you felt like traveling several hundred years back in time to Nottingham.”

“It’s still far enough away from London.” She lightly picked at the corner of the pages slightly nervous. Even though she had just met the officer last night, Tilly felt this unexplainable connection to him especially after they talked about the North Star. It was as if someone had finally seen her, Tilly, not just the daughter of Eloise Gardener.

“Forgive me, if I’m once again overstepping, but last night you said you never left London before yesterday.”

Tilly shook her head. “Never. I rarely left our estate. When I did it was usually a short ride to another upper-class family’s estate for a party. My situation reminded me too much of a story I read when I was a little girl, it was as if I was like that girl in the tower from that one story by the Brothers Grimm.”

“You’ve read the works by the Brothers Grimm?” Rogers gasped. “No pun intended, miss, but that’s rather grim for a child to have read.”

She shrugged again. “I guess it helped me realize that life isn’t all that pleasant as most fairy tales would want you to believe. It can be grim, however, it also showed there could be hope as well. I think that’s what draws me to the literary works such as _Robin Hood_. While he might be an outlaw, he gave the people of Nottingham hope to fight the injustice and tyranny of Prince John until King Richard was restored to his rightful place on the throne. Hearing how Drizella used to play Robin Hood with her childhood friend made me really want to read about his adventures again.”

Rogers looked down remembering the events from the previous night clearly. “Yes, and how is your fiancée doing? Apologies, but last night couldn’t have been easy for her as well.”

“She’s… fine I guess. We might be engaged, but I keep her at a bit of a distance.”

“Why’s that, love? She seems like a lovely young woman who has your best interest at heart from what little I saw of your interactions with her last night.” Rogers suggested.

“She’s… caring, yes. It’s complicated because there aren’t any feelings between us.” Tilly closed the book and put it on the table next to Rogers’ box. “We’re merely helping each other keep the other from drowning by the expectations thrust upon us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Tilly cleared her throat and shook her head to keep any other thoughts of Drizella out. “It’s alright. Just another case of upper-class problems that should never be talked about.”

The First Officer nodded understanding the topic was to be dropped. “Well, Miss Gardener, how about I interest you in a game of chess?” His heart felt like it had melted when he saw the blonde’s face light up like the sun.

“Yes, please. I haven’t played chess in what felt like forever.” Tilly watched as Rogers opened his box which turned out to be a folded chessboard.

He flipped it to its underside where the pieces were in their personal storage spaces. Rogers handed her the white king. “Ladies first.”

She took the king from him and began pulling out the white chess pieces from their storage spaces. When they were settled into their game, Tilly thought they could continue talking as they played. “You seem to be well read yourself, Mr. Jones. Because of all the downtime that happens from all your travels?”

“Aye. Also brings interesting conversations between people, discussing their thoughts over other people’s works.” Rogers contemplated which piece he was going to move. “Would _Robin Hood_ be one of your favorites since you said you kept drifting back to his story?”

“At the moment, yes. What about you? What’s your favorite story?”

“Hmmm…” Rogers moved his pawn to try and set up a trap for Tilly in the next couple of turns should the young woman in front of him make the moves he predicted. “While I have a current favorite, my absolute favorite is _Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass_ by Mr. Lewis Carroll. My current favorite is actually a play I saw several years back when I was on a small holiday and was in London. The play was published in the form of a book just last year. _Peter and Wendy_.”

Tilly cocked her head as she tried to remember the plays that were in London. “Isn’t that the play about the boy who never wanted to grow up?”

“Aye, that’s the one. It was a nice little reminder of my boyhood of never wanting to grow up and going off on adventures. I kind of liked the captain of the story too.” His smile dropped a little when he saw Tilly had taken the pawn he had just moved. Apparently, he had fallen for one of Tilly’s traps. “Clever girl.”

The blonde smiled back at the officer and then broke into a fit of giggles at a thought that had just crossed her mind. “Apologies, Mr. Jones. I just thought of something I believe to be funny.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“I was thinking of Drizella’s friend, Robin. I wonder if she was named after Robin Hood. I think that would be a nice twist to the original story. Everyone believing that Robin Hood was a man, but the entire time he was a woman disguised as a man.” Tilly explained causing Rogers to chuckle.

“That would be something. It would also be a good name, to be named after a legendary hero such as himself. Though I’m not sure if I would name any of my children after characters from stories, unless I truly admired the character and would want them to live through my child.”

Tilly lightly bit her bottom lip. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you have any children, Mr. Jones?”

Rogers shook his head sadly. “No. I had truly loved only one woman, but it was not to be. I have thought of hypothetical scenarios throughout the years and how life would have been if I had had the chance to be with her. I’ve always imagined a little girl who I could shower all my love towards, to raise her knowing how a proper gentleman should act towards her, that she should be respected by her partner whether it be male or female, and many other scenarios.”

“So, you never imagined having a son? Most men I’ve become acquainted with growing up wouldn’t stop having children with their wives until they had a son. Some sadly even resorted to their mistresses.”

“I have never imagined my life with the woman I loved with a son. It was always a daughter and she was the only child. I have two brothers and I think that’s what influenced my imaginative family to one child and a girl. And if I ever had a daughter, I would have named her Alice,” Rogers replied before moving his knight putting Tilly’s own knight in danger of being taken.

“After the character from Mr. Carroll’s book? Did you really enjoy its topsy-turvyness that much? Like you said, you wouldn’t name your child after a character unless you truly admired them.” Tilly asked as she moved her knight to a safer place on the board.

“I think it would be an honor to be named after her. She was a brave girl upon entering those two worlds vastly different from our own. But no, I wouldn’t have named my daughter after the titular character. She would have been named after my mother. The bravest and strongest woman I had ever known and had the blessing to be called her son.”

Rogers watched as Tilly concentrated on the board whenever it was her turn. With each passing second, he became more and more convinced about what he had concluded from his deduction. The young woman in front of him looked too much like his mother and her age fits perfectly with the last time he had been with Eloise before he was forced to be separated from her. Eloise’s reaction at dinner the previous night had also given him the impression what his heart was telling him to be true.

Tilly Gardener, was his daughter.

Both having been lied to about the circumstances of why neither knew of each other. Rogers was lied by Eloise’s parents that she had no longer loved him and no longer wanted to be courted by him. Cast away by a family with influence and it was because they had found out Eloise was pregnant with his child out of wedlock. Tilly was lied about her father being dead when he was presently sitting in front of her. Eloise was no longer the woman he had once fallen in love with. She had changed so much Rogers didn’t recognize her anymore and he wants nothing more than to protect Tilly from her.

Last night was a disaster that unfolded in front of him. He could see Tilly was unhappy with her engagement while trying to put on a brave front. Eloise didn’t seem to show even an ounce of love for their daughter throughout the whole dinner. Rogers looked down at the board and saw one of Tilly’s pawns available to be taken without any consequence by his knight. To Eloise, Tilly was a pawn merely to be sacrificed, a throw away. Instead of taking the pawn, Rogers moved his knight into a position to be taken by Tilly’s queen.

Tilly looked up at him confused before concentrating on the board again. Rogers didn’t mind if Tilly didn’t understand why he did what he did, it was a symbolic meaning to him. He was subtly showing Tilly that he would gladly sacrifice himself and his happiness to Eloise if it meant protecting his daughter and helping her find her own happiness. He watched as Tilly moved her queen and didn’t take his knight, but moved it into position ready to take one of his bishops. Both locked eyes as Tilly silently let him know that she understood what he was saying on the board, even if she didn’t understand it completely. Rogers smiled and began playing the game for real this time. For now, he would take these moments with Tilly and cherish the first time he got to spend with his daughter.

After several games of chess and talking, Rogers escorted Tilly back to her cabin to prepare for tea. “Thank you for the wonderful afternoon, Mr. Jones. It was nice to escape for even just a little while.”

“You’re most welcome, Miss Gardener.”

“Tilly. Please, call me Tilly.”

Rogers gave a deep sigh. “Miss Tilly.” It pained him knowing in his heart that the young woman in front of him is his daughter and not able to hold her like a father would. “If at anytime you would want to talk and play some more chess, let me know and if you can’t find me ask one of my fellow officers. As long as I’m not on watch that is... I bid you a good rest of your day, Miss Tilly.”

Unlike dinner preparations, Tilly was re-dressed into something more suitable for afternoon tea. Drizella was waiting in the common room of their suite to escort her to where they would be having tea. Their mothers were waiting for them outside of the Palm Court.

“It’s about time you two showed up.” Victoria chastised.

Drizella took a deep breath. “Hello to you too, Mother. Who will we be joined with this afternoon?”

Eloise answered. “We will be joined by Sidney Glass. Now come along girls.”

As they entered the Palm Court Tilly leaned further into Drizella’s side and whispered. “Who exactly is Mr. Glass? And why are we having tea with him?”

Drizella gave Tilly’s hand a light squeeze. “Mr. Glass is apparently the Chairman of this small New York county newspaper called _The Mirror_. He tends to act like the Titanic was his idea because he has connections to high ranking members of the White Star Line. I also heard he would do almost anything for big headline news.”

“Ladies!” Sidney Glass greeted as he stood from his seat. “I truly appreciate the honor of having your company for tea.”

“The honor is all ours, Mr. Glass,” Eloise replied as she held her hand out for Sidney to kiss. “Introductions, this is Lady Victoria Tremaine and her daughter Drizella Tremaine.” The three exchanged pleasantries as Sidney kissed their hands as well. “And my daughter, Tilly.”

“Ah, young Miss Gardener. A pleasure to make your acquaintance as well.” Sidney smiled and kissed Tilly’s hand.

Tilly had to swallow to keep herself from gagging at the chairman. There was something about him that made her uncomfortable. She felt Drizella give her hand a small squeeze of comfort. “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Glass,” Tilly replied.

Sidney had pushed all four of their seats in before taking his spot at the head of the table. “I have to say I was rather surprised earlier to receive a request for tea with the Gardener and Tremaine families together.”

Victoria smiled at Sidney. “Well, Eloise and I agreed it seemed only right since our families will soon be merged.”

“Really?” Sidney exclaimed in surprise. He looked over at the two young women to his right. “My, my. I feel terrible for not knowing these two young lovebirds were engaged. My congratulations to the happy couple.” He raised his glass of water for a small toast.

Both Tilly and Drizella quietly thanked him before taking sips of their waters as well. They knew their mothers would be boasting about their engagement to every new person of influence they could, but it didn’t mean they enjoyed it.

“Mr. Glass, here came up with the idea for this wonderful ship,” Eloise announced to the table as if they didn’t already know.

Sidney sat up a little taller. “I must apologize, Miss Gardener. Thank you for the credit, however, it was not fully my idea. Mr. Ismay, who couldn’t be here with us for tea, was credited for the idea. Though I was with him while coming up with the details for this fine beauty.”

Tilly looked at Drizella silently thanking her for the information before they had sat down about Sidney Glass. It was making it a little easier to block out whatever Sidney was going to be talking about during tea.

Suddenly Sidney stood as he greeted two people just about to pass their table. “Henry Mills is that you, my boy?”

Henry and Sabine stopped from being escorted by their host. “Mr. Glass?”

“Henry! My, it has been years since I’ve last seen you!” Sidney exclaimed as he shook Henry’s hand vigorously. “Care to join us for tea?”

“Actually, Mr. Glass, we’d prefer if-” Victoria started to object. There was no way this tea was going to be ruined by having a Mills sit with them.

“Mr. Glass. Thank you for the offer, but we already have a table.” Henry tried to politely decline.

“Nonsense! You’re the son of my old boss before I moved onto more grandeur things.” Sidney started to coax towards the last chair available at the table. “I’m sure we can get another chair pulled up for your wife.”

“Oh, I’m not his wife.”

“She’s not my wife.” Henry and Sabine objected simultaneously.

“My apologies, I just assumed.” Sidney motioned for a steward to bring another chair to their table.

“Sabine is a very good friend of my wife, Jacinda. We happened to run into one another and we both thought it’d be best if I were to escort Sabine to meals during the voyage.” Henry replied as he held a chair out for Sabine to sit. He looked over at Eloise and Victoria. “Miss Gardener. Lady Tremaine.”

“Mr. Mills.” Both women greeted through their teeth.

Henry gave a nervous chuckle before turning to Tilly and Drizella. “Young Miss Gardener. Miss Tremaine.” Tilly and Drizella exchanged their own greetings.

Sidney looked between Henry and the two families. “Do you all know each other more than just the occasional gallantries?”

Drizella was the first to speak up before her mother could make a rude comment while sounding polite. “Henry is my brother-in-law. It’s been quite a while since we last saw each other though.”

Victoria moved her seat closer to Eloise when Henry’s chair was placed between herself and Sabine. Sidney was completely oblivious to the tension building around the table. “Henry, I didn’t know you were aboard the ship. If I had known I would have sought you out last night for drinks. Why didn’t you have yourself listed along with everyone else on who would be traveling?”

“Well, Mr. Glass, I-”

“Sidney. Please, Henry. I’ve known you since you were just a small boy.” Sidney corrected as the steward place their chilled grapes in front of them, ordered by Sidney before the Gardeners and Tremaines arrived.

“While that is true, with all due respect, I find it easier to address you as, Mr. Glass. After all, it’s like you said. It has been years since you’ve worked with my mother.” Henry countered. “I also didn’t have myself listed because as you know, my family likes to travel discreetly.”

“I imagine they would with all the scandals surrounding your family, Mr. Mills,” Eloise commented.

“Mother!” Tilly gasped at her mother’s words. “My apologies for my mother, Mr. Mills. May I ask what does your mother do for a living and how does Mr. Glass connect with your family?”

Henry smiled at Tilly sensing her genuine curiosity instead of the fake polite questions that usually arrives at meals. “Presently she and my aunt are horse breeders for competitive racing. While we have our own ranch in Maine, we also work with a ranch in England for the English races. Mr. Glass knows my mother from when she was the mayor of the small town in Maine where our ranch is located.”

“A female mayor.” Victoria scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. We all know the elections for Regina’s mayoral run were rigged because of your grandmother.”

“Actually Lady Tremaine. My mother is not the first female mayor in the U.S. There have been several women since the 60s out in Kansas and as far west as Oregon in the last twenty or so years. All very successful women in their respective towns from what I heard.” Henry politely defended. “Even a town in England had elected their first female mayor about four years ago. My mother also won her initial election and all her re-elections fairly. My grandmother was actually against my mother running for mayor instead of being a meek wife to whichever man my grandmother had tried to set her up with.”

Victoria clenched her jaw to maintain her composure. Before either, she or Eloise could retort with anything about the Mills family Sidney had brought the attention back on himself.

“I’m personally for having women gaining some political status.” Sidney had a smile on his face that made Tilly uneasy to see. “There is just something about women in power and taking charge.” Tilly squirmed in her seat which Drizella took notice.

The steward had begun taking orders from the table starting with Sidney. Unaware of her actions, Tilly began biting at her fingernails. A habit she had developed whenever she was feeling nervous. Eloise gave her daughter a stern look. “You know I don’t like when you do that, Tilly.”

Drizella seeing Tilly’s discomfort, grabbed her hand and held it under the table giving a gentle squeeze. “She knows.” She leaned into Tilly so only she could hear her. “You okay?” Tilly gave a small nod. Both knowing she wasn’t.

“And for you, ma’am? The steward addressed Drizella.

“Um… I’ll have the smoked salmon sandwich, please. A chocolate eclair as well.”

The steward wrote down her order before moving onto Tilly. “And for you, ma’am?”

Before Tilly could say anything, Eloise answered for her. “She’ll also have the smoked salmon sandwich. Same order as her fiancée.”

Sabine looked at Eloise and then at the two young women in front of her. “Are you gonna have Drizzie feed the sandwich to her too, Eloise?”

Drizella blushed at the nickname from a slight embarrassment and the fact she hadn’t been called ‘Drizzie’ since her father passed away. Victoria glared at Sabine, not appreciating how she had addressed her daughter. Sabine didn’t think anything of it as she continued talking to break the tension that was building at the table.

“Hey, who thought of the name ‘Titanic’?” She looked over at Sidney. “Was it you, Sidney?”

“Yes, actually,” Sidney answered rather smugly.

“Liar,” Tilly whispered only loud enough for Drizella and Eloise to hear. While Drizella faked a cough to hide her laughter, Eloise was not amused and gave her daughter a stern look before returning her attention to Sidney.

“I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength.” If it wasn’t for the warning Drizella gave her earlier, Tilly would have almost believed that Sidney Glass had come up with the idea for Titanic. “She is the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man in all history. I had envisioned a steamer so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is.” Sidney lightly banged the table for good measure. “Willed into solid reality. The master shipbuilder, Mr. Andrews, designed her from the keel plates up in Belfast, Ireland.”

Eloise gave a tight pleasant smile to Sidney. “Would we have the chance to meet with Mr. Andrews at some point and get a tour of this fine ship from the master shipbuilder?”

Sidney looked flattered in being the bridge between Mr. Andrews and one of the many influential families aboard the Titanic. “I don’t see why not? I’ll ask him tonight for you, Miss Gardener. I’m sure I can convince him after a few glasses of the finest Irish brandies on the ship.”

Unable to further stand Sidney Glass’s phoniness Tilly finally spoke up. “Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Glass?”

Henry and Sabine shared a knowing look at where Tilly was heading with her question to the newspaper chairman.

“I’m afraid I don’t, young Miss Gardener,” Sidney replied suddenly feeling less confident not knowing who Tilly was referring.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mr. Glass. I’m sure Dr. Freud’s ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you.”

Drizella, Henry, and Sabine all looked down to keep themselves from chuckling. Everyone at the table fully aware of what Tilly was insinuating except for Sidney. Eloise grabbed her daughter’s hand from under the table and gave a hard squeeze to pull her daughter’s attention.

“What’s gotten into you?” Eloise whispered harshly.

Tilly pulled her hands free from both her mother and fiancée and placed her napkin on the table. “Excuse me.” Tilly apologized as she stood up. Both being gentleman, Sidney and Henry began to stand as Tilly had already briskly walked out of the Palm Court. Eloise apologized for her daughter’s behavior as Sidney and Henry sat back down in their seats.

Sabine slowly ate her grape before addressing Drizella. “Your fiancée is quite the pistol there, Drizzie. Hope you can handle her.”

“Well, my daughter will just have to start minding what her fiancée reads from now on, won’t she, Drizella?” Victoria replied while shooting her daughter a warning look.

Drizella continued to look down at her table napkin to avoid looking at Victoria. “Yes, Mother.”

Sidney looked back towards the direction Tilly had left then back to the remaining occupants at the table. “Freud? Who is he? Is he a passenger?”

* * *

As promised, Margot brought her brother to the promenade deck to help him recover from his seasickness. The peppermint candy was helping as well. Roland leaned back on the bench they were sitting on taking in as much air as possible. Margot sat with one leg crossed working on her sketchbook. She was drawing some of the various passengers on the deck as a warm up before moving on to her actual sketch work.

“Is that Sherwood?” Roland asked as he took a peek at his sister’s drawing.

Margot nodded. “Yep. He is such a handsome horse and a perfect subject to take my time to work on, unlike my other sketches.”

“And what about me? Draw me, Sis!” Roland sat up a little straighter and turned towards his sister, giving her a three quarter view.

“I’d have to charge you ten cents.” Margot joked. Both siblings chuckled as Margot set herself up to start drawing her brother.

The artist had just finished laying out the foundation of her sketch when she felt someone approach her. Margot looked up to see a little girl with curly dark hair watching her sketch. She appeared to be a few years younger than her second cousin back home.

“I’m sorry.” The little girl apologized. “I just wanted to watch you draw.”

Margot smiled. “It’s alright, Sweetie. Come here.” She lifted the little girl so she was sitting on Margot’s lap. The artist placed the sketchbook on the girl’s lap. “There you go. Now you have a better view to watch me draw my brother.”

The little girl was very attentive as she watched the illustrated version of the man in front of her started to come alive on the paper. At some point, the girl placed her hand on top of Margot’s to feel the motion of the older woman’s movement on the paper.

“Do you like to draw, Sweetie?” Margot asked.

“Yes, but I’m not as good as you, Miss.” The little girl responded.

“I only got this good after years of practicing and continuing to draw.” Margot shook her hand to get some blood flow back. “Sweetie, I’m going to need you to get down for now. I need to sharpen my pencil and don’t want to accidentally cut you. That wouldn’t be fun would it?”

Both Margot and the girl scrunched their nose and shook their heads at the thought. The girl moved over to sit on Roland’s lap as they watched Margot scrap her knife along the tip of her pencil, shaving off pieces of wood and graphite. While sharpening her pencil, Margot answered all of the questions thrown at her by their new young friend. Most of the questions were about what Margot did specifically to improve on drawing.

“Well, like I said, years of practicing by drawing almost every day. Not all of them being good. I’ve had more bad drawings than good ones. Sometimes a drawing I thought was bad when I drew it turned out to be one of my favorites later.” Margot put her pencil in her sketchbook and closed it to keep any loose pages from flying off. “One of the best advice I was given was that drawing is all about training your mind to view the world differently to bring it to paper.”

The little girl cocked her head. “View the world differently?”

Margot nodded. “Yes, viewing the world differently. Remember how I only had shapes lightly laid out on the paper when I started drawing my brother? By drawing you begin to train your mind to see the world in its most basic form in shapes then develop from their shapes to be more organic. Does that make sense or did I lose you, Sweetie?”

“No,” the little girl shook her head. “I think I understand what you’re saying.”

“Ah! There is our darling angel!” A woman announced as she and a man approached them.

“Mommy!” The little girl hopped down from the bench to hug her mother. The small gesture caused a knot to form in Margot’s stomach as she thought of her own mother.

The man held out his hand to Margot. “William. I hope our daughter hasn’t bothered you two too much.”

“Margot. This is my brother, Roland.” She and Roland stood to shake William’s hand. “And no, your daughter has been a wonderful student. Real thirsty for knowledge in drawing.”

“Daddy, may I spend some more time with Aunt Margot, please? She’s almost done drawing Uncle Roland.” The little girl pleaded.

“No, Cora. Not tonight.” William knelt down to pick up his daughter. “It’s time for supper and then off to bed for you. Now say goodnight to Aunt Margot and Uncle Roland.”

“Goodnight Aunt Margot. Goodnight Uncle Roland.” Cora waved as she and her parents headed to the nearest staircase.

As the siblings sat back down on the bench, Margot had a look of horror on her face while Roland was trying hard not to laugh at his sister’s expense.

“Hey… Sis?”

“Yeah?”

“Wasn’t your-”

“Yep.”

“And that little girl is also named-”

“Yep.”

The pregnant silence did not last long as Roland began howling in laughter. The situation wouldn’t have been as funny to him if Margot hadn’t told him about her heartless witch of a grandmother the night before. Roland had laughed so hard he had started to cry.

“Well, I’m glad you find this amusing.” Margot playfully snapped. “Shit Christ all mighty. How could a sweet little girl like her share a name with the most hard-assed woman to have ever lived?”

“Maybe Little Cora could help redeem the name for you.” Roland sat back up straight to the pose he was in while Margot drew him. “Shall we get back to your drawing of me?”

“Yes! Anything to keep me from thinking further about my grandmother.” She put her hair up into her hat so it wouldn’t blow in her face while she continued working on her drawing of her brother.

They sat in silence as Margot finished sketching Roland’s form. When she began shading the drawing is when Roland relaxed a little from his pose.

“So… do you make any money with your drawings?” He asked.

“What?” Margot looked up having not fully paid attention to her brother’s question.

He nodded towards her sketchbook. “Do you make any money with it?”

“No, no, no. I do this for fun.” She looked down at her drawing then back to her brother. “Photos are expensive and too much of a hassle to travel with, but I wanted to capture moments during my travels. It also gave me something to do when sitting on a train, or on a ship, or even the back of a horse cart traveling… from… place… to… place…”

Roland looked at his sister confused when she trailed off whatever she was saying. When he noticed that she was looking past him, he turned towards her light of sight to the upper promenade decks where they were technically supposed to be instead of on the steerage promenade. But his sister had insisted they go to the steerage deck because the people ‘weren’t as uptight and phony’ to quote Margot. He chuckled when he saw what, or rather who, had captured his sister’s attention.

Leaning on the railings and looking down at steerage was a young woman with blonde hair. Obviously from First Class because of her dress, while simple, was still more extravagant than what a lady in Second Class would wear in the afternoon. Roland looked back at Margot then the blonde and then back to his sister. Seeing her deep in a trance, he waved his hand up and down in front of her to no avail. The blonde had his sister’s complete and undivided attention.

He saw the blonde finally noticing his sister staring at her. Roland snapped his fingers close to Margot’s ear hoping to snap her out of the trance, but nothing was working. “Jesus Christ, Sis. Not only are you being a creep staring at her. You look like a man. A man in steerage staring at a First Class lady.”

Margot blinked quickly and shook her head when she finally came out of her hypnotized state. “Holy shit.” She muttered under her breathe.

Roland looked back up to the blonde seeing another woman with her. A dark brunette. “Ah, sorry, Sis. Looks like she’s spoken for with the other woman.”

“What?” Margot questioned.

“You’re from that world. Do you know them?” Roland asked.

Margot shook her head. “I don’t know the blonde, but the brunette… she’s an old friend of mine. She’s also my cousin’s sister-in-law. If Drizella is here than her mother is probably close by.”

“So it is a First Class thing?” Margot just nodded and went back to working on her drawing. “What kind of name is Drizella?”

“Oi!” Margot exclaimed. “Don’t be mean!”

Roland held his hands off to his side in surrender. “Sorry! I just never heard anyone with that name. Also, you got quite defensive for her. Who is she to you? Was she only just your friend or was there something more between you two?”

“We were just friends. Though with the way how First Class works and if my grandmother was still alive, I probably would have been engaged to Drizella.” She snuck a glance up to see her old friend being left at the rails by the blonde. “I’m protective over her because her entire childhood makes my early one with my grandmother seem tame. It’s like I told you last night, First Class is ruthless and it doesn’t take much for a family to lose everything and end up with the majority in steerage. Which the Tremaines had come close to on multiple occasions.”

He looked up one last time to see Drizella wiping something from her eye, maybe a tear, as she walked away. His heart started to feel heavy for the young woman. “I think I’m starting to fully understand why your mother left Dad. She really did protect him by leaving him completely.”

Margot let out a deep sigh as she signed and dated her drawing before handing it to Roland to take a look. “Yeah, she did. If only things were different… Maybe in a different reality, we’d all be a family somehow. My parents together after being apart for years. I’d still want you there in this other reality. I don’t know how it would work, but your mother being there as well. It would still be a highly unconventional type of family, but we’d make it work because it would be our family. No class divisions, not heartlessness and unrealistic rules to abide. Just us.”

“That sounds like a great life to have lived.” Roland awed.

“Hopefully the other reality versions of us are happy.” Margot smiled sadly. “But in this reality, all we can do now is carry forward and make every day count, right?”

“Right!”

“Now, how about we go grab dinner and you sneak me a drink.”

* * *

She was fuming. Tilly had walked around the First and Second Class promenade as well as the Boat Deck trying to calm down. She didn’t know how much time had past except that the sun was starting to set. While she had grown up around people boasting about their accomplishments or associated accomplishments she still couldn’t stand being with people who were phony to the core. Like Sidney Glass. He was a no name coat chaser trying to put his name on anything that would make headlines. Give himself credit for things he had no reason to be accredited. She had no idea how he had lasted this long without someone taking him to court or something for his false claims.

“It’s absolutely deplorable!” Tilly muttered to herself as she walked up to the railings of the deck that overlooked the Third Class promenade. “And yet Mother wants to associate with him.”

The blonde watched the passengers in the lower deck go about their business. She couldn’t help but smile a little at how free every single one of them appeared to be. A movement at the corner of her eye caused her to look over at the bench where two men were sitting. One was waving his hand and snapping his fingers at who Tilly assumed was the man’s friend. It was then she realized his friend was staring at her. Tilly looked away feeling a hint of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

Unlike with Sidney Glass, this man’s staring was welcomed. She kept stealing glances back at him to see if he was still watching her. Tilly chuckled to herself noticing her admirer hadn’t blinked once, caught in a trance. It was because of his hypnotized state that the stare was welcomed. Sidney Glass had made her uncomfortable because his glances were lecherous and anything but innocent. Especially from his reaction towards Henry Mills’ mother being his former boss.

Tilly was broken out of her own mini trance when she heard someone walk up behind her. She sighed feeling the presence being Drizella’s before her fiancée placed a hand on her arm. “Which of our mothers had you come look for me?”

“Would believe me if I told you I came out of my own concern?” Drizella began rubbing her hand up and down Tilly’s arm.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” Tilly pulled her arm away from Drizella’s touch without looking at the woman next to her. “You said so yourself, you’re willing to play the part in this senseless marriage. A part I want nothing to do with.”

Drizella gripped the railing until her knuckles started to turn white. She hadn’t expected her words from the day before to be tossed back in her face. While she didn’t have any romantic feelings for her fiancée it still felt like something sharp pierced through her heart at the rejection. She let out a deep shaky breath before she spoke again. “And what kind of part do you want to play?”

“What do you see when you look down there?” Tilly asked ignoring Drizella’s question.

“Um…” Drizella followed Tilly’s line of sight towards the promenade for the Third Class passengers. “I see kids kicking a small ball on the deck, a little girl being held by her father at the rails looking out to the ocean, a man drawing something in his sketchbook, there is also-”

“That’s not what I meant.” Tilly shook her head sadly. “You see what is in front of you and nothing beyond. I see people of lesser means living happier lives than us. While money might help them in whatever struggles they might be fighting, I don’t think they would trade what they have for our lifestyle. Their smiles are genuine. They are able to show their emotions freely.”

“Tilly-” Drizella started as she tried to touch her fiancée’s arm again.

“No. Don’t bother trying to comfort me.” Tilly pushed herself from the railings. “You’ve made it very clear what role you’re playing. I want nothing to do with it or with you. We both know which of us our mothers prefer for a daughter anyway.”

Drizella’s jaw dropped as she watched Tilly walk away. She inhaled sharply as she felt her eyes start to sting from tears threatening to roll down her cheeks. Not wanting to show any sign of weakness, she quickly wiped them away and started to head back to her cabin. Hoping that is not where Tilly went or if the blonde was in their parlor suite, she was in her bedroom so they wouldn’t have to see one another again until dinner. Where once again they’ll put on a front as a somewhat happy engaged couple.

She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice she passed Sabine and Henry. Both looked on as she kept on walking full of concern for her.

“Any idea what happened to her? Should we go after her?” Sabine asked.

Henry shook his head. “No, that’s a look sadly I’ve seen too many times. Drizella wouldn’t want to be bothered by anyone no matter how much we would want to help her right now. There was only one person who was able to get through to her and right now she is somewhere in England.”

* * *

Margot closed the book she was reading and stretched out the kinks that had started to form in her back while she was sitting in the Second Class Lounge. This was something she did for as long as she could remember, reading before bed. It was harder to do while she was traveling around Europe and picked up her old habit again when she was at the Locksley Estate.

She had just finished reading _Alice in Wonderland_ for the umpteenth time and she enjoyed every moment of the adventure once again. Margot leaned back in her seat observing everyone who was in the quiet lounge, sounds from the quintet’s instruments carried throughout the lounge creating a comforting atmosphere. The only thing that would have made this moment more enjoyable for her was having a cup of tea, a cat on her lap, and probably curled up by a fireplace back home with her family.

As she looked at the other second class passengers, she had wished she had brought her sketchbook to draw them going about their business. To give her family a look at what a calming evening aboard the Titanic was like. Not as different as when she traveled on other ships, but they also never traveled on a ship’s maiden voyage before and this was the most luxurious ship to date. Margot made a mental note to herself to comeback during the trip and sketch various rooms.

The brunette got up from her seat to put the book away in the enclosed bookshelf cabinet. Margot quickly browsed through the other selections before closing the cabinet and walking out of the lounge. She was lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t pay attention as she bumped into a man who was passing the lounge opening.

“Oh, my apologies, Miss.” The man she ran into apologized.

“No, the apologies are all mine, Si- Henry?!” Margot gasped in surprise.

Henry looked at the woman in front of him wide eyed realizing who he ran into. “Ro-” Margot slapped her hand over his mouth quickly and looked around making sure no one was around. She signaled for him to follow her which he complied while constantly looking to make sure no one was paying attention to them.

Margot opened the door to her cabin and quickly dragged Henry into the room. Roland looked up from reviewing his sister’s sketchbook and stood when he saw the other man. “Margot, what’s going on?” Roland asked.

She pointed at Henry. “This is the cousin I told you about, Henry Mills. Henry, I love you, and you have always been more of a big brother to me than a cousin so don’t get jealous; this is Roland Locksley, my brother.”

“Locksley? Brother?” Henry questioned not sure where to begin. “As in this is Aunt Zelena’s lover’s child?” Roland and Margot both nodded. “I- Wha- Margot?”

“That’s my name,” Margot smirked at her cousin. “And it’s going to stay that way as long as we’re on this ship. So keep your mouth shut.” Henry nodded knowing how terrifying the women in his family can be. “I found out a few hours ago that the Tremaines are aboard.”

Henry shook his head and took a seat on the couch. “It is so much worse than that, Ro- Margot. The Tremaines are traveling with the Gardeners.”

Roland looked between Margot and Henry confused. “This is bad how? I get it’s something to do with your First Class world, but what is so bad about these two families?” He sat back down next to Henry feeling the tension building in their cabin.

“Remember how I told you about my grandmother. Well let’s just say the head of the Tremaine family and the head of the Gardener family pale in comparison to my grandmother individually, but together…” Margot took a deep breath. “They have the potential of being far worse. Especially since there is that rumor involving a witch cult.”

“Witch cult?” Roland fell from his spot on the couch laughing. “This is making me even more thankful that I wasn’t born into First Class. Sorry, but your society is insane and not in a good way!”

Margot and Henry ignored Roland as they looked at each other realizing the situation. “Henry, do you know how Drizella is doing? I saw her from afar earlier, that’s how I found out the Tremaines were here.”

Henry ran his hand through his hair. “I think the pressure from Victoria is getting to her. I actually ran into her before dinner. The last time I saw her the way she is now was when Cecelia died and Marcus remarried Victoria.”

“Wait this Marcus fellow was married to Victoria, but then married this woman Cecelia, to only remarry his first wife? Was Victoria his first wife?” Roland saw the look the other two occupants were giving him. “You know what I’m going to shut up and let you two talk. Margot will tell me all the details later.”

“Good idea, Roland,” Margot replied sarcastically. “I saw Drizella with another woman, a blonde.”

“You probably saw Tilly Gardener… Drizella’s fiancée.”

Margot raised an eyebrow at this information. “Who is Tilly Gardener? Obviously related to the Gardener family, but how haven’t I heard about her at all?”

“She’s Eloise Gardener’s daughter. Most of the First Class families in England know about her than the American families. The only reason I knew of her was from my many travels to England over the years.”

“Hmm… that makes sense. If Gardener’s daughter is anything like her mother I feel bad for Drizella right now.” Margot sat down next to Henry.

“Tilly is nothing like her mother. She has quite the wit to her. I better head out. Ro-” Henry bit his tongue and shook his head chastising himself. “You’re making this complicated for me, you know that? Be glad I know you and that this isn’t as weird to me as it would have been to others. Margot, be careful. We both know we have enemies here because of who we are.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. Unlike you, I’m traveling in Second Class under Roland’s name and we spend most of our time in steerage. People are more real and not as fake and uptight as First Class. I’ve gotten plenty of practice being under the radar in the last two years.” Margot stood up and walked with her cousin to the door. “You be careful yourself. You’re the one with a target on your back.”

Henry nodded before pulling Margot into a hug and kissed the top of her head. “It is good to see you and that you’re doing well. We all missed you.”

Margot hugged her cousin tighter. “I missed all of you too. I can’t wait to go home.”

* * *

**_Preview - Chapter 2: You Jump, I Jump_ **

_Tilly looked over at the woman. “You’re crazy.”_

_Margot chuckled as she finished putting her hat back on. “You’re probably right; all the best people are but, with all due respect, Miss…” She leaned a little closer to Tilly. “I’m not the one leaning over the ship’s railing looking down at the water.”_

_The blonde turned away to hide her mixed expression at the other woman’s words and trying to figure out an excuse to deny she was pondering of jumping. She turned back around and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I- I was looking at the propellers.”_

_"The propellers?” Margot looked at her confused and began to speak slowly careful of how she worded her questions. “The propellers that are below the waterline? At night? With little moonlight? Making the water appear pitch black? You’re looking at the propellers?”_

**Author's Note:**

> Going to say it now. This WILL NOT be a complete rip off of the movie. The movie is the bone structure for the story, but there will be a lot of creative changes to keep the integrity of the characters and their personalities in place.
> 
> In matters to historical accuracy we’re omitting the societal views of homosexuality of the time period. The historical accuracy of the societal views of New Money vs. Old Money, Racism, and Interracial Marriages will be used at a bare minimum for purpose of character development and storytelling, but will not be implemented heavily in the story.
> 
> Also since it is an AU, some character relationships and ages are adjusted to fit the purpose of the story and will be explained in future chapters.
> 
> Bonus Summary by D2R: Absolutely not Titanic with S7 cast and a cameo of a character most people forgot about from S1.
> 
> Bonus Summary by Ayu: Unexpected star-crossed lovers, conspiral witch cults, cross-dressing artist as a "princess" in disguise. Anything could practically happen on a "Ship of Dreams" that was doomed to sink before leaving port.


End file.
